FPInnovations grants fellowship to UBC professor developing bio-economy strategy for BC

James Olson, Director of the Pulp and Paper Centre

James Olson, Director of the Pulp and Paper Centre


Media Release | October 28, 2013

FPInnovations has awarded the FPInnovations Professorship in Pulp and Paper Engineering to Professor James Olson, director of the Pulp and Paper Centre (PPC) at the University of British Columbia, for his leadership in helping to position British Columbia’s pulp and paper sector to prosper in the emerging bio-economy.

Olson is working closely with industry and FPInnovations to develop a bio-economy strategy and action plan for BC, and to position UBC and the PPC as a leader in research and education in a strategically important provincial industry.

“As this action plan unfolds in the coming years, FPInnovations and UBC will continue to play a key role for the pulp and paper industry, as the sector transforms to a new bio-economy that incorporates advanced applications of both traditional and new materials derived from the forest,” says Jean Hamel, FPInnovations’ Vice-President for Pulp, Paper and BioProducts.

“This role will include not only world-class research, but also a proposed destination bio-economy advanced education program that supports innovation and will attract the best and the brightest to ensure strong leadership for tomorrow’s industry.”

Olson holds a B.A.Sc. (1991) in Engineering Physics and a Ph.D. (1996) in Chemical Engineering from the University of British Columbia. He worked at the Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada (now FPInnovations) prior to joining the UBC Department of Mechanical Engineering in July 1999 as an Assistant Professor. He was appointed as the director of the UBC Pulp and Paper Centre in 2011. His research is in the areas of advanced pulp processing, screening, LC refining, fibre and paper properties, and the fluid mechanics of fibre suspension. In recognition of his research he has been awarded two NSERC Synergy awards for industry collaboration, two I.H. Weldon awards for best papers in 2001 and 2010, the 2007 and 2009 Van den Akker medal from the Fundamental Research Committee, and the 2009 BCIC Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Innovation, as well as several best paper awards including the Wayne Carr Memorial, the Douglas Attack and the John S. Bates best paper awards. He is a registered Professional Engineer in BC.

FPInnovations has a long history of collaborating with partner university networks that offer innovation learning platforms to undergraduate and graduate students. The FPInnovations Professorship in Pulp and Paper Engineering Endowment Fund was established in 2001 to help provide the very best research and education in pulp and paper engineering, thus attracting young researchers to the university forest sector networks and to FPInnovations.

About FPInnovations
FPInnovations is a not-for-profit world leader that specializes in the creation of scientific solutions in support of the Canadian forest sector’s global competitiveness and responds to the priority needs of its industry members and government partners. It is ideally positioned to perform research, innovate, and deliver state-of-the-art solutions for every area of the sector’s value chain, from forest operations to consumer and industrial products. FPInnovations’ staff numbers more than 525. Its R&D laboratories are located in Québec City, Ottawa, Montréal, Thunder Bay, Hinton and Vancouver, and it has technology transfer offices across Canada. For more information about FPInnovations, visit: www.fpinnovations.ca.

Contacts:
Terry Knee
FPInnovations
Communications Director
514 630-4115
terry.knee@fpinnovations.ca

Dr. James Olson
Director
Pulp and Paper Centre
UBC
604-822-5705
james.olson@ubc.ca

Anna Jamroz
Communications Coordinator
Pulp and Paper Centre
UBC
604-827-2117
anna.jamroz@ubc.ca

Leave a Reply